In recent years, the Neville Brothers' commercial and creative cachet, as well as the crowd size for their traditional second Sunday Acura Stage closing set, were not what they once were. This altered band, then, was moved to the festival's first Sunday and slotted before the Dave Matthews Band. Aaron will front his own band on the last Sunday.

The bones of the band are still sturdy. "Mean" Willie Green, the longtime drummer for the Neville Brothers, is still behind the kit, still wearing his usual stage attire of tie-dye. Tony Hall, a veteran of the Neville Brothers, was on bass. Brian Stoltz, another longtime Brothers sideman, joined Art's son Ian on guitars.

Aaron's son Ivan, the leader of DumpstaPhunk, handled keyboards alongside his Uncle Art, and served as the band's emcee. When Art started praising the muddy crowd's appearance, Ivan cut him off with, "Papa Funk!"

Art shot him a look: "You rushing me?"

Sunday's opening one-two of "When You Go To New Orleans" and "Meet the Boys on the Battlefront" served as a calling card, speaking to their heritage. The funk felt right, with the trademark tangle of percussion, the clipped guitars, the sing-song keyboards. The Nevilles revived "Brother Jake," from their landmark "Brother's Keeper" album.

The Nevilles play during New Orleans Jazz Fest on Sunday, April 28, 2013.Kathleen Flynn, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune

Charles' sax took center stage for the novelty hit "Tequila." Cyril dug into "Junk Man." Cyril's son Omari served as lead singer/cheerleader for one song. Charmaine Neville tapped a cowbell alongside her father, Charles. It was a Neville family affair.

But without Aaron, there was no gravitas. No "Amazing Grace," no "One Love," no "Yellow Moon."

"We wish him all the best," Art said at one point. "He's doing his own thing, and we're doing our own thing."

Set lists visible on the big screens indicated "Iko Iko" was to precede "Big Chief" at the show's conclusion. Running short on time, they skipped "Iko" and went directly into "Big Chief," ending three minutes earlier than their scheduled stop time.

In the end, they managed fewer than 10 songs. The set felt anticlimactic, far smaller than Neville Brothers Jazz Fest shows of old. Earlier, Ivan had urged listeners to "close your eyes and imagine you're back at Tipitina's in 1979." A nice thought, but that moment has passed.